Why don't we just give a break to TMac and Sura and the guys, because we won the game last night. There's no point in arguing over nothing because they are clearly running out of gas, everyone is banged up and tired. Although that two free throws are inexcusable, Sura did choke that time. That 2 24-second thing is not entirely Sura's fault. We dodged a huge bullet and we're now officially clinched the playoff. So I'm really happy, we should celebrate NOT arguing.
Headlines from SINA: "Yao, only ate 2 hotdogs!" "Yao only ate 2 hotdogs before the game and didn't get to the 6th. If he got to the 6th then he would've scored 3 times as many points because of 3 times as many hotdogs eaten." "Sura faint!" "3 times in last game versus the Suns sura faint in the worst of times. twice Sura faint with 3 seconds left on the shot clock, and once after missing two free throws at the end of the game."
Two things stood out on the footage: The ways the Suns radio guy poked fun at "Jeff Van Grumpy" for as long as he did & the smiles on the Suns players as they left. They didn't seem too bothered by the loss. To me, this Suns team looks more and more like a copy of their 80s & early 90s teams (pre-Barkley) that would win 50+ games, lead the league in blowout wins, but wouldn't do well in the playoffs. I expect this team to struggle and maybe even lose in the first round if they played the Rockets or Denver. They will beat the Kings (no defense) or Grizzlies (no identity).
Excellent point! The funny thing is, one of the callers on the Suns' post-game show was VERY fair in his assessment of the Suns. HE basically said that I would love to be wrong, but this team "reminds me so much of the late 70s, 80s Suns team that scored tons of points and won bunch of games. Yet when they came to the playoffs, they lost games and couldn't win a dang thing." He basically said that the Suns play "no defense" and they wouldn't win in the playoffs because of that. Apparently, you are not the only one who sees that, Suns fans are starting to see it as well.
To me, the Suns' success in the postseason is almost entirely predicated upon whether the officials will call the touch fouls they've been emphasizing all year long. Despite it being bad for the Rockets, I hope that they do. Touch fouls have been masquerading as "defense" in the NBA for too long. They're illegal and give the defender an unfair advantage. They should be called. Regardless of this, I don't think the Suns will win the title. At some point, the shots won't fall. They have precisely one player who doesn't suck in the post. And he's a premier, A+ athlete with a B- post game. If Yao could stay out of foul trouble, and we had a good weak side rebounder, we could have shut him down last night. Which doesn't bode that well for us...since we don't have a weakside rebounder. But guess who does? Yep. San Antonio. And Dallas.
